Keeping it Low-Key In The New Year

A new video is up and its all about having low-key, and low-maintenance (yet stylish) new years goals – both in fashion, and in your home. Casual clothes can look sloppy and a minimal bedroom can look stark, so watch the video to help avoid these terrible style pitfalls.

Zanna talks about the benefits of “Athleisure” – the trend where you wear athletic clothes in a sporty-chic fashion, and then dress them up with shoes and accessories. Then I gab on with some easy and low maintenance bedroom tips.

Here are some quick tips (but watch the video for more) to having a low-key bedroom:

Keep the contrast low and the color palette extremely simple. You can still have pattern, and certainly texture, but keep the contrast low (like with the mint and white bedding). I was dying to style this more but it kept getting busier and busier, so we pulled it back and kept it quiet.

Keep a basket or two near bed to throw clothes in. While this is not revelatory I, of course, just throw my clothes (both clean and dirty) on my bench which piles up to monstrous proportions, and looks like we’ve been robbed daily. So yes, baskets. Genius.

Think about buying quilted bedding – it never looks wrinkled, and in fact looks best after it’s been washed and dried a lot. This could be great for a guest room that you want to look good and simple without doing a lot of work, eh?

And lastly, get a storage trunk whenever possible. I’m not kidding. We have 3 of them in our house in various rooms, and there are times I wish there were more.

P.S. how cute is that campaign inspired nightstand? P.P.S. I have no idea what that curtain rod is doing like that – poor Tessa only had 1/2 hour to shoot these before they struck the set and none of us were on set styling it for her – so no, that is not a new curtain styling tip.

It’s quiet and simple, certainly- like my Friday nights these days. I wanted to amp this room up then, and I want to amp it up now, but the whole point was simple, low-maintenance and minimal so we kept it pulled back without a lot of contrast.

Get that super simple look here:

1. Quilted Sham 2. Faux Sheep Skin 3. Nightstand 4. Round Basket 5. Pleated Pillow 6. Medallion Quilt 7. Embellished Pillow 8. Embroidered Art by Jane Denton 9. Textured Woven Pillow 10. Storage Bench 11. Sheet Set 12. Globe Lamp 13. Ceramic Planter 14. Geode 15. Woven Basket

Thank you Jane Denton for making me another beautiful and simple piece of embroidery art. I have an “X” and an “O” for Elliot’s room, in the sweetest blush pink. Also Target’s sheepskin (#2) is 100 times better than Ikea’s, that everyone and their dog (literally) owns. Buy this one. It’s so much softer and it’s more of a crisp white.

1. Sweater 2. Shift Dress 3. Blouse 4. Distressed Jeggings 5. Skinny Jeans 6. Heeled Booties 7. Heeled Sandals 8. Peep Toe Platforms 9. Sea Salt Spray 10. Lipstick 11. Mascara

I’ve worn #6 and #8 multiple times on shoots, and they are pretty darn cute. The peep-toe shoe we style with ankle socks (like in the commercial I did) and it is a look that I’ve recreated a lot. Also, for you guys who saw my beauty post yesterday, a couple people recommended that mascara (#11). I haven’t tried it myself but I hear it’s awesome.

***Photos by Tessa Nuestadt for Target. Head on over the ABV blog for even more style info. Hair and makeup by Danielle Walch and fashion styling by Zanna Roberts Rossi.